Current Affairs Quiz-September, 2020

Notes:
The United States of America (USA) has recently revoked the Visas of more than 1,000 Chinese students and researchers.
The move is under the directions of the US President Donald Trump in May 2020. The proclamation is aimed at Chinese nationals who are suspected to have ties with Chinese military. In this regard, China has accused US of racial discrimination.

Notes:
The Pune based SII -Serum Institute of India has paused the clinical trial of COVID vaccine candidate. The vaccine is being developed by Oxford University’s Jenner Institute and Astra Zeneca.
Serum Institute has stopped the trial after a notice from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). The trials of COVID vaccine were stopped globally after one of the recipients in U.K. showed adverse symptoms.

Notes:
The United Kingdom (UK) has entered into an Economic Partnership Agreement with Japan.
This partnership is seen as a historic move, since this is the first trade agreement signed by the UK post Brexit. The agreement is said to foster trade between the two countries by about 15 billion Euros.

Notes:
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha laid the e-foundation stone of Arun Jaitley Memorial Sports Complex, Hiranagar in Kathua district in Jammu & Kashmir.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh and Union Minister of Youth and Sports, Kiren Rijiju jointly laid the e-foundation stone. The Rs 58.23 crore mega-sports complex is being undertaken under the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP).

Notes:
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Sameer Kumar Khare as new Executive Director of Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The veteran bureaucrat has been appointed to the post for a tenure of three years. Sameer Kumar is a 1989-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. He is currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs under Ministry of Finance.

Notes:
The Government of India has formed a committee for conducting a study on the origin and evolution of 12,000-year-old Indian culture.
The committee comprises of 16 members with K.N. Dikshit, the Chairman of Indian Archaeological Society as a prominent member. The ministry plans to use the report of the committee in textbooks for the purpose of educational research.

Notes:
Two important bills pertaining to Ministry of AYUSH has been passed in Lok Sabha, namely the “National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill 2020” and “National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill 2020”.
The said bills have been already passed in the Rajya Sabha in March 2020. The bills seek to replace the existing “Indian Medicine Central Council Act 1970” and “Homoeopathy Central Council Act 1973”.

Notes:
World Ozone Day or ‘International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer’ is observed on September 16 all over the world.
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was adopted and signed by 28 countries, on 22 March 1985. The theme of this year is ‘Ozone for Life’. This year also marks the 35th year of the Vienna Convention and 35 years of global ozone layer protection.

Notes:
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank presented the first ever AICTE-Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Awards 2020.
The award has been conferred to 12 faculty members of AICTE approved institutes on the occasion of Engineers Day. The award has been introduced to identify extraordinary teachers and recognize their best practice in the field of higher technical education.

Notes:
India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has exited from Sudan after the country has refused to pay for oil it lifted from the fields.
The overseas investment arm of the state-owned oil company, ONGC Videsh (OVL) along with its Chinese partner CNPC and Malaysia’s Petronas have withdrawn from the oil fields. The African country had not paid USD 430.69 million for the Oil it bought from the block since 2011.